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The attack began Sunday morning when a suicide bomber detonated a car laden with explosives at the main entrance of the police headquarters in the eastern city of Gardez in Paktia province.

The blast cleared the way for the other six attackers who stormed the police station and targeted Afghan officers.

Najib Danish, a spokesman for the Interior Ministry, said two gunmen were immediately killed by Afghan police, while the other others held out for hours. It took Afghan security forces most of the day to kill the last gunmen.

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement.

"Around 6:20 (local time) this morning, a martyr attack was conducted by our mujahideen against a special forces base in Gardez, Paktia," Mujahid said.

"First a car bomb detonated then our mujahideen entered the building, opening fire on police," he added.

In April, the Taliban launched their "spring offensive" against Afghan and international forces stationed in the war-torn country.

Read:Opinion: Observe and reflect on Afghanistan

A massive truck bomb killed at least 90 people in the Afghan capital Kabul on May 31, 2017. The target of the attack was Kabul's heavily fortified diplomatic area in the "Green Zone." The German embassy in the area was extensively damaged. No group claimed responsibility for the attack but the Taliban and the self-styled "Islamic State" (IS) have staged large attacks in the city in the past.

The blast in Kabul's diplomatic enclave was the latest in a long line of attacks on the Afghan capital. Earlier in May, eight foreign soldiers were killed in a bomb attack claimed by IS. In March, insurgents attacked an Afghan military hospital in Kabul's diplomatic district, killing 38 people and injuring more than 70 others, namely patients, doctors and nurses.

In April, Afghanistan's Taliban vowed to ramp up assaults on coalition and Afghan security forces, announcing the start of their annual spring offensive. The group said they were changing tactics for this year's operation, naming it "Operation Mansour" after the group's late leader who was killed in 2016 in a US drone strike.

US President Donald Trump has yet to announce his Afghanistan policy. Afghanistan expert Michael Kugleman told DW Trump's Afghanistan policy will in many ways be quite similar to that of the Obama administration. "Like Obama, Trump will likely also express support for the idea of reconciliation between the Taliban and the Afghan government," said Kugelman.

But the Taliban have shown no interest in peace talks. Afghanistan observers say it is unlikely that the militant group will engage in any negotiations as they currently have the upper hand on the battleground. The Islamists now control more Afghan districts than at any other time since 2001.

President Ghani said last year his country "no longer expects Pakistan to bring the Taliban to the negotiating table." Experts say Islamabad uses Taliban militants as proxy jihadists to counter Indian influence in Afghanistan. Former Pakistani Taliban spokesman, Ehsanullah Ehsan (pictured), was recently captured and pardoned by Islamabad after he accused India of supporting the Taliban.

Apart from the Taliban, the Afghan warlords excercise massive influence in the country. Earlier in May, Hizb-i-Islami leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar returned to Kabul after a 20-year exile to play an active role in Afghan politics. In September 2016, the Afghan government signed a deal with Hekmatyar in the hope that other warlords and militant groups would seek better ties with Kabul.

Russia has increased its involvement in Afghanistan. Moscow had maintained an apparent distance from the Afghan conflict for many years but a new geopolitical situation is emerging in the region, and it seems that Russia has decided not to remain "neutral" in the protracted conflict. In the past few months, Russia has hosted a number of Afghanistan conferences involving China, Pakistan and Iran.

In the midst of an endless battle for power, President Ghani's approval ratings continue to plummet. Rampant corruption in the Afghan government and a long tug-of-war within the US-brokered national unity government has had a negative impact on the government's efforts to eradicate terrorism.

Author: Shamil Shams

Deteriorating security situation

The so-called "Islamic State" (IS) militant group and the Taliban have launched numerous attacks in Afghanistan in the past few months, with experts saying that President Ashraf Ghani's government is failing to protect citizens.

Read:'China and Russia want US out of Afghanistan'

"The security situation in Afghanistan has deteriorated further. Afghan security forces control only about 57 percent of the country's territory. Around 2.5 million people live in areas controlled by the Taliban and nine million more live in contested areas," Nicole Birtsch, an Afghanistan researcher at the Berlin-based think tank, the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP), told DW.

"The number of civilian victims, including many children, remains high. And many people are internally displaced due to the fighting between government forces and the Taliban," she added.

Sunday's attack came as the Pentagon is getting ready to send some 4,000 additional US troops to Afghanistan.

The latest wave of US troops will mainly be deployed to train and advise Afghan forces, following warnings by top US commanders in the region that the local military was facing a resurgent Taliban and a rising threat posed by IS.

Read:Afghan soldier attacks US troops near Mazar-i-Sharif

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Taliban storm police headquarter in eastern Afghanistan ...